Spring Break!

Today marks the start of spring break! We get tomorrow and alllllll of next week off. And it shall be glorious. 

School was a lot of fun today! We had a normal morning and had a party after lunch. My class and the fifth graders went to the Light House to play games, eat snacks, and to not do history. They loved it. We made s'mores using peeps in the place of typical marshmallows. Something about watching peeps semi-explode was strangely satisfying. Anyways, they were delicious and very springy! 

We've been talking about skeletons and joints, and did a fun science activity today.

They traced the outline of hand bones onto a glove, and a lot of them wore the gloves for the remainder of the day. They loved it, and I quote: "If I had to get a mechanical hand, it would look like this!"

I really enjoy cooking, but cooking with Jared is 10 times more fun than cooking by myself! By the time we are both home from work, it's easier and quicker if we work together. We tried a new dish tonight - I found the recipe here. It's called "Skinny Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo" and it was delicious! It was so much lighter than typical Alfredo pasta. Chicken Alfredo is always too rich for me, but this was great, thanks to the Greek yogurt that took the place of heavy cream. We highly recommend it if you like that kind of dish!

I hope all of you have a blessed Easter weekend. Remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross and enjoy your time spent with family! :)

St. Patrick's Day

Ready for a good history lesson?

Jared shared with me the story of St. Patrick last week and I did some of my own research on why we celebrate this day. Here is a summary of the story!

Saint Patrick was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped slavery eventually and went back home to Britain. He later returned to Ireland in the year 432 to serve as a missionary. Saint Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to the pagan and polytheistic people of Ireland. Why is St. Patrick's day symbolized by a shamrock? St. Patrick used the clover as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity: Father, Spirit, and Son. Patrick died on March 17 in 461 after 30 years of ministry in Ireland and was recognized later as a Saint by the Catholic church.

I was surprised! Maybe I'm just out of the loop, but I don't know that I've ever actually heard the background of St. Patrick's Day.

I started thinking about the history behind this holiday and really just became sad - I don't know how else to put it. I got on Facebook last night and my news feed was full of pictures of green beer, people posting about bar crawls...

In memory of a missionary, drink green beer. Evangelist...green beer?

Is that weird to anybody else?

I am obviously not telling anyone how to or how not to celebrate Saint Patrick's day. That choice is left up to you. My only point is that, after really learning why we celebrate Saint Patrick's day, America's choice of celebrations ("copious consumption of alcohol," as Wikipedia puts it) just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Then I started thinking about it even more...watch out!...and started considering Christmas and Easter. Again, everyone celebrates differently. I grew up with Santa and the Easter Bunny and would argue that I've turned out completely fine! They are fun traditions to hold to as a family chooses to, as long as they don't overshadow the true holiday. But as a society, how far have we come from the true meaning of these Christian holidays? Easter was the one that really got me. "Look kids, Easter! When you go to bed tonight, a 6-foot bunny is going to come put eggs in a basket for you!" Because, obviously, rabbits lay eggs. And a giant rabbit break and entering into your house isn't creepy at all (I had nightmares as a kid thanks to big brother Danny's stories of Easter...no joke!). And what exactly does that have to do with Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of a fallen world?

I'll be stepping off my soapbox now - for the six of you that will see this, thanks for listening! I simply felt lead to share my new understanding of St. Patrick's day, and perhaps a reminder to celebrate these holidays for what they are worth.

Culinary Treats

We got home a bit ago from worship band practice. Our electric guitar player was sharing with us what his six-year old grandson said to him while they were on a hike. The grandfather offered his grandson some trail mix as they took a break. The grandson held out his bag of marshmallows and said, "No thank you, but would you like one of my culinary treats?" Too funny!

I thought I would share a new "culinary treat" with you! Thanks to Pinterest, of course.

Do you like Reese's Cups?

Wait. Does anybody not like Reese's Cups?

This recipe was super easy, and I already had most of the ingredients at home (considering there are only a few, that's not a huge accomplishment). Click here to find the recipe!

The quick version: mix peanut butter, confectioner's sugar, butter (lots...and lots...of butter!), and graham cracker crumbs together. Put it in a pan, melt chocolate chips and more peanut butter together, spread that on top and bam. Done. We put it in the refrigerator before dinner, went to practice, and cut in to it as a healthy (ha) snack around 9:30. Nothing wrong with that, right? Of course!

It doesn't taste 100% like a Reese's Cup, but you obviously can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter.

In other news, I slept through my alarm this morning. Again. It's becoming a weekly thing for me - the pretty little song on my iPhone that used to wake me up has not quite been doing its job as of late. I'm afraid I'm going to have to upgrade to my grown-up alarm clock, lovingly known as the "honk clock." Seriously, this thing is gross. Pray for me and my morning tomorrow. :P